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Roller Coaster Productions is a Film company that specialises in fan funded documentaries. We delight in making films that people want to see about things they love.

Music, video games, tv and film. Our pop culture is a fertile ground for exploring the human condition. Humans are passionate animals. Our films seek to celebrate a world of diverse people and cultures through the art that inspires and invigorates their lives.

For all enquires contact the Creative Director Drew Roller: andoneo76atgmail.com

A documentary film that will explore the story behind the game: how a small team created one of the most influential and widely-enjoyed games in history; the personal stories of the large impact the game had on its fans; how the game’s legacy continues to inspire reimaginings, fan projects and the broader FPS genre; and, where the GoldenEye team are today and their thoughts on the current gaming landscape. Featuring interviews with gaming journalists from IGN, Kotaku and Cnet as well as industry experts and developers. GoldenERA celebrates the game that revolutionised the way we play together, in bedrooms, dorm rooms with friends and family around the world.

THE DEVELOPMENT

How did a small team, many of whom had never worked on a game before, create one of the most revered and best-selling games of all time?

GoldenEye’s evolution – What was the process like transforming the early 2D platformer and on-rails shooter concepts into the final FPS vision?

Nintendo and Rare culture – Was it a challenge getting approval for a more mature direction for the game and enough development time to make a film license of unprecedented depth?

Gameplay – The little touches that immersed us in the world and transitioned the genre from Doom-style blasting to the more detailed sandbox shooters we have today: Multiple mission objectives, stealth gameplay, animated hit locations on enemies, the watch/pause feature, the zoomable sniper rifle etc.

Multiplayer – How a mode originally approached as a side project became THE iconic N64 multiplayer game.

Audio – The soundtrack that kept on giving. The original Bond anthem in the hands of Grant Kirkhope would go on to be a key element in the game’s immersive quality, as were the many memorable sound effects.

THE LEGACY

GoldenEye single-handedly proved that not only were FPS games on console possible, but that they could be arguably the most enjoyable multiplayer games, foreshadowing the huge popularity of console shooters such as COD and Halo.

Looking at the press coverage as it was release and how the way it’s been viewed critically has evolved over time. E.g. Edge Magazine saying with hindsight they should have given it 10 instead of 9.

How GoldenEye’s speed challenges helped shape the current speedrunning phenomenon.

Looking at the elements of the game that lived on in Perfect Dark and Activision’s GoldenEye remake, as well as the GoldenEye Source project. And why licensing issues have prevented a pure re-release.

Why did the original GoldenEye team fragment so much after its release?

THE PERSONAL STORIES

The GoldenEye 007 game has had a profound impact on so many lives around the world. We’ll explore personal anecdotes of the dev team, fans and celebrities discussing how it shaped them and their lives. Below are a couple of examples that are indicative of the sorts of personal stories we’ll be weaving through the documentary.

ABOUT US

GoldenERA Documentary Director – Drew RollerThis game had a huge impact on me. I have a successful career in interface design and film making because I became addicted to Goldeneye and also Zelda Ocarina of Time which were both games that changed my view on the world. I wanted to create interactive experiences for people that delighted them.

GoldenERA Documentary Producer – Narayan PattisonThis game was the cornerstone of my love for gaming and my N64. I was a fledgling writer for N64 Gamer magazine and was given GoldenEye as my very first review. I went in without any expectations and was utterly flawed by its atmosphere and depth. Having the honour of explaining to Australia why this game was so revolutionary and why they should all play it was pivotal in my decision to turn my back on my law degree and spend the following 20 years as a games journalist.

WHAT NEXT?

Current projects the GoldenEye team are working on.

How the games industry has changed from 1997 to 2017. Are the bigger budgets making gaming derivative as publishers become more risk averse? Has the recent rise of digitally distributed Indie games helped recreate a similar resurgence of creativity that the industry enjoyed during GoldenEye’s inception?

Acoustic Uprising is a crowd funded film featuring interviews with international performers like Kaki King, Newton Faulkner and Andy Mckee. Set for release in 2017 it looks at an emerging movement of guitarists renowned for taking the ubiquitous acoustic guitar to astounding heights of virtuosity. Read on for more info and check us out of Facebook here.

A new experimental frontier in guitar has risen to prominence on the internet in the last 10 years. An approach to solo acoustic guitar renowned for it’s “astounding virtuosity” – Gotye. This approach has startled and inspired millions on Youtube due to it’s inherently visual nature and ambitious approach. The movement is not defined by a style or genre, but more by an attitude and an aptitude for skill and precision. Akin to martial arts, it is dependant on a high level of technical proficiency. The goal is to perform multiple musical roles at once, taking on the task of conveying a complete piece of music including elements of melody, harmony and rhythm with one performer on the one instrument. That one instrument is the acoustic guitar.

It is the very nature of the acoustic guitar that allows the artists to be so expressive. It is after all essentially a wooden drum with strings. Considered to be the “people’s instrument”, the acoustic guitar has not traditionally been associated with high class or virtuosity like violin or piano. It was more likely to be found performed on a street corner or at a ‘juke joint’ performed by African American musicians than in classical conservatoires in the late 19th century. The acoustic guitar would explode in popularity throughout the 20th century thanks to it’s affordability, portability and low barrier to entry, making it’s way into many musical traditions. From the moment Elvis Presley performed Heartbreak hotel on television in 1956, the silhouette of a man and his guitar would become the symbol of music across the west for decades to come. The guitar would go on to dominate our love affair with music defining cultural movements in the 60s and 70s and throughout the 80s electric guitar players would take an almost god like status. And while the electric guitar scaled these blinding heights, the acoustic guitar’s role would remain the same. A tool for song writers, an accompaniment instrument, in front of the band but behind the song.

In the 80s and 90s a handful of musicians began to take new approaches to the acoustic guitar channeling a plethora of new influences through it and most notably using it as a tool for composition. Their music would expand the language of the instrument, challenge the perception of the acoustic guitar and give it the identity it had been lacking as a solo instrument. Their pioneering visions would largely go unnoticed by a mainstream that had fallen out of it’s 50 year love affair with the guitar, gravitating towards more synthetic music genres. But it would set the stage for the the explosive acoustic revolution that would come to the fore in the mid 2000s on the internet.

Against the backdrop of the digital revolution and the rise of electronic music, FingerStyle would continue to appeal to a small but passionate niche. All that would change in 2006 when a humble guitar tutor from Kansas named Andy Mckee would upload a video to a brand new internet platform called Youtube. The song and techniques used in the video were inspired by the pioneers of the 80s. Andy Mckee’s song would go ‘viral’ and reach over 50 million people and counting. It was beautiful yet counterintuitive. His innovative manipulation of a very ubiquitous acoustic guitar made no attempt at representing a genre, yet it struck the ear as pure music. It was transcendent. The acoustic guitar would never be the same again & Andy Mckee would be thrust onto the world stage, touring the globe with artists like Prince and Dream Theatre.

This story would become the seed of a thriving community. Through the internet like minded artists would find their tribe, heralding a new era of innovation and creativity. The intimate nature of the acoustic guitar and the communal nature of the internet came together to create an exciting new laboratory of experimentation and discovery. Here players from all over the world share, learn and evolve with each other and every now and then one of them strikes a chord that thrusts them onto the world stage.